Jury: Mom had sex with young son, dad helped

Written by: Wire and Staff Reports

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A couple was convicted Friday of sexually abusing their young son, who testified he had frequent sexual encounters with his mom while his dad offered him instructions or tips on what to do.

The 14-year-old boy told jurors at his parents' sex abuse trial that he began having intercourse with his mom on his eighth birthday, about a year after his dad began showing him pornography.

The northeastern Pennsylvania boy, who was home-schooled, said he didn't know that sex with his mom was wrong until years later, when he was placed in foster care.

The mother and the father took the witness stand in their own defense and denied the allegations.

But a jury in Wilkes-Barre convicted the mother, 45, of rape of a child, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children and incest. It convicted the father, 53, of conspiracy to commit rape of a child, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children and distributing explicit sexual material to minors.

The father also was convicted in April on 13 charges he sexually abused two underage girls between 2002 and 2005. A judge postponed sentencing in that case until after the conclusion of the case involving the son.

The father will be sentenced in January. The mother will be sentenced in February. It was unclear how much prison time they would face.

Prosecutors said the boy lived in squalor and didn't know how to use eating utensils or tie his shoelaces when removed from his Plymouth, Luzerne County, home in August 2010.

The boy was temporarily put in foster care and then was transferred to live with an aunt and an uncle.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who claim they are victims of sexual abuse or their family members.

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